# Anne Nichols

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{{short description|American playwright (1891–1966)}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Anne Nichols
| image        = AnneNichols.jpg
| image_size   =
| caption      = 
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1891|11|26|df=y}}
| birth_place  = Dales Mill, [Wayne County](/source/Wayne_County%2C_Georgia), [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state))
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1966|9|15|1891|11|26}}
| death_place  = [Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey](/source/Englewood_Cliffs%2C_New_Jersey)
| death_cause  = 
| birth_name   = 
| occupation   = Playwright
| years_active = 
| parents      = George Henry Westberry Nichols<br>Julia Anne Bates Nichols
| spouse       = Henry Duffy (1915-1924)
| children     = 1
| relatives    = [James H. Nicholas](/source/James_H._Nicholas)<br>(grandfather)<br>[Leslie R. Nicholas](/source/Leslie_R._Nicholas)<br>(cousin) 
}}

'''Anne Nichols''' (November 26, 1891 – September 15, 1966) was an American [playwright](/source/playwright) best known as the author of ''[Abie's Irish Rose](/source/Abie's_Irish_Rose)''.

==Biography==

Anne Nichols was born in obscure Dales Mill, in [Wayne County](/source/Wayne_County%2C_Georgia), [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)), to Julie and George Nichols. Her father George was the son of James Nicholas born in 1868. George had the Nicholas surname shortened to Nichols.

Nichols penned a number of [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) plays, several of which were made into [motion pictures](/source/motion_pictures). Her most famous production was ''[Abie's Irish Rose](/source/Abie's_Irish_Rose)'', a [farce](/source/farce) depicting the tumult that arises with the marriage of a young [Jew](/source/Jew)ish man and an [Irish](/source/Irish_people) girl.  This play broke the record for the longest run in Broadway theater history, and was made into films [in 1928](/source/Abie's_Irish_Rose_(1928_film)) and [again in 1946](/source/Abie's_Irish_Rose_(1946_film)). Nichols sued [Universal Studios](/source/Universal_Pictures) for making ''[The Cohens and Kellys](/source/The_Cohens_and_Kellys)'', a film with a similar plot premise, but the use of stock characters was found to be outside of copyright protection in ''[Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp.](/source/Nichols_v._Universal_Pictures_Corp.)''

To a certain degree, ''Abie's Irish Rose'' paralleled the life of its author, who was born into a strict Baptist family, but married (and divorced) Henry Duffy, an Irish Catholic. Nichols
wrote the play during this marriage, and would eventually convert to Catholicism herself.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8707p03.pdf |title=Georgia playwright Anne Nichols wrote in 'the spirit of tolerance' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074650/https://diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8707p03.pdf |archive-date=2018-08-20 |work=Southern Cross |date=February 15, 2007}}</ref>

In 1937 Nichols produced ''Hey Diddle Diddle'', a comedy play written by [Bartlett Cormack](/source/Bartlett_Cormack) whose setting was a duplex apartment in Hollywood. The play premiered in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 21 with [Lucille Ball](/source/Lucille_Ball) as Julie Tucker, "one of three roommates coping with neurotic directors, confused executives, and grasping stars who interfere with the girls' ability to get ahead." The play received good reviews, but there were problems, chiefly with its star, [Conway Tearle](/source/Conway_Tearle), who was in poor health.  Cormack wanted to replace him, but Nichols said the fault lay with the character and insisted that the part needed to be reshaped and rewritten. The two were unable to agree on a solution. The play was scheduled to open on Broadway at the Vanderbilt, but closed after one week in Washington, D.C., when Tearle suddenly became gravely ill.<ref>Brady, Kathleen (2001), ''Lucille: the Life of Lucille Ball'', New York, New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, p. 73-74, {{ISBN|0-8230-8913-4}}</ref>

Nichols died from a [heart attack](/source/myocardial_infarction) while residing at a nursing home in [Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey](/source/Englewood_Cliffs%2C_New_Jersey), at the age of 75.<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1966/09/16/archives/anne-nichols-is-dead-at-75-author-of-abies-irish-rose-play-panned.html "Anne Nichols Is Dead at 75; Author of 'Abie's Irish Rose'; Play Panned by Critics Ran 5 Years Here and Became Film and Radio Show "], ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'', September 16, 1966. Accessed October 24, 2009.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120415043921/http://www.edwardtodonnell.com/hibchronabiesirishrose.html 82 Years Ago: Abie’s Irish Rose]
* {{IBDB name|4183}}
* {{IMDb name|0629532|Anne Nichols}}
* {{Find a Grave}}
* [http://catalog.nypl.org/record=b15243207~S1 Anne Nichols papers, 1873-1965.], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [New York Public Library for the Performing Arts](/source/New_York_Public_Library_for_the_Performing_Arts)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Anna}}
Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
Category:1891 births
Category:1966 deaths
Category:People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Category:Burials at Kensico Cemetery
Category:American women screenwriters
Category:American women dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:Screenwriters from New Jersey
Category:Screenwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:20th-century American screenwriters
Category:Writers from Bergen County, New Jersey

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Anne Nichols](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Nichols) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Nichols?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.